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Three feelings sum up the Arts Sector’s response to COVID–19. Firstly, a feeling of doom and nothing seeming to work. Secondly, a sense of paralysis, coupled with a curiosity about what might work. Thirdly, there’s an optimism about the future, and a fierce determination to survive and thrive in this trying time.
I don’t think these feelings are confined to the Arts Sector, of course, and these feelings alternate with each other even over a single day. Arts organisations are faring better than individual artists. Jobs have some protection, but freelance work sadly does not. Individual artists that have very low incomes, in any case, have lost al

The Liberties is one of Dublin’s oldest neighbourhoods and for Amy Sergison, it’s part of her family history. She revisited the area to explore its evolution.
The Liberties is one of Dublin’s oldest neighbourhoods having been around in one way or another since the 12th century. In my memory, this is where my nana lived and my Dad grew up.
I have very fond memories of visiting my nana on Basin Street. We would know we were close in the car, even if our eyes were closed because we could smell the hops from Guinness. I remember Greta’s shop (sadly gone today), where the floor sparkled like diamonds and jars filled with sugar barley stood tall on top of

Katie Kavanagh, a Dublin 8 based photographer, had an idea. As we’re generally stuck indoors due to COVID-19 restrictions, she’d take portrait shots of her neighbours at their doors. The idea grew legs and she’s linked up with Purple House Cancer Support Centre for the project, ‘Doors Closed, Hearts Open‘. Their aim is to create a gallery of 200,000 Doortraits to support the 200,000 people living with Cancer in Ireland

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Elisa Capitanio is a UX Designer at social media intelligence agency Storyful, and also runs her own independent abstract art business.
She came to Ireland nine years ago completely by chance. Living in Italy, she longed for a change of pace, so she left her home of Bergamo and moved to London. Dublin came calling with an opportunity for Elisa to try her hand at being a web designer, so she packed her bags for a second time and moved country again. Since then, Ireland has become her permanent home and has inspired her art.
She chose Dublin for its fast market and inspiring tech community.
Of working in Dublin’s tech industry, Elisa said:

Traffic: we all hate it. But we’re stuck with – and in – it. Or are we?
A new initiative from Dublin City Council (DCC) and delivery firm UPS is aiming to reduce the number of vehicles on the city’s roads. It uses what UPS call an “Eco Hub” container on Wolfe Tone Street. The Eco Hub acts as a small distribution hub from which deliveries can be made by bike or on foot.
“It came about when we were approached by UPS, who had piloted the same project in London, Paris and Hamburg,” explains Colm Ennis, Senior Executive Engineer with DCC. “We are developing a strategy for city centre goods deliveries and are trying to reduce

In recent years, Dublin has lost some of its most important creative spaces to a building boom that’s reminiscent of the Celtic Tiger era.
Block T in Smithfield and South Studios near Cork Street were both closed down in 2016 with a significant loss of square footage for artists, photographers, designers and writers. In their place, however, a new generation of co-working spaces – aimed specifically at servicing Dublin’s creative communities – is coming into being.
Although they have become abundant in many European capitals in the last few years, co-working spaces are a relatively new arrival in the Dublin property market. In the past 12 months the number

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Following a recent major agreement between the Government and the Hague based Permanent Court of Arbitration there is a significant opportunity for Dublin to become a centre for dispute resolution.
Dublin has a huge amount to offer as an international arbitration venue, including a highly respected legal system. Following the UK’s departure from the EU, Ireland will also be the only fully common-law, English speaking country in the EU. Currently cities including Paris, Zurich and Stockholm have been seen as seats for arbitration, however newer places, including Dublin could now attract high profile cases. This has the potential to be a major boost to the econ

The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in many businesses facing an uncertain future, rethinking how they will make money. Many entrepreneurs have found a silver lining from their new circumstances in being given an unexpected opportunity to work on sustainable and ethical ideas as they reinvent their business.
Making your start-up or existing business sustainable or ethical is also a smart, future-proof option. Customers are now much more informed and aware of the environmental impact of their purchases. A more sustainable product or service will create a positive brand image and reputation that will impact the bottom line of many businesses.

As the impact of the COVID–19 outbreak intensifies, businesses across Dublin are finding ways to diversify to survive the crisis and retain their staff. The virus is hitting our economy hard, and it’s creating a situation that’s well beyond the experience of most business owners. However, in these difficult times, many businesses have managed, with the support of their Local Enterprise Office, to adapt and shift to new products and services quickly.
UNIFORMAL
Uniformal, an established uniform and corporate wear provider based in South Dublin, have been supplying Irish businesses with bespoke and premium ready-to-wear uniform solutions and workwear fo

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With a huge urban campus, state-of-the-art facilities, and the largest student body of any university in Ireland, University College Dublin welcomes hundreds of new international students every year.
UCD prides itself on being Ireland’s global university and has international campuses and strong links to academic institutions in locations as far-flung as Beijing and Malaysia. They have a portfolio of over 500 institutional partnerships in over 90 countries, allowing students and staff to engage in exchange programmes for research, studies, internships, field trips and volunteering opportunities. Around 1,000 students avail of these opportunities every year, a

We sat down with Professor Philip Nolan, president of Maynooth University, to discuss his plans for the university, which lies on the periphery of Dublin. His role focuses on creating a strategy and implementing this to grow and develop the university.
Maynooth University is home to over 1,000 staff and 13,000 students, and more than 1,200 of these are international students hailing from over 60 countries. The university offers a wide range of excellent academic programmes which are delivered by leading researchers in various fields, and students are challenged and encouraged to reach their full potential in this top-class learning environment.
C

Romina Dashghachian is 22. She’s from Germany (her parents are from Iran), and she’s studying for a Master’s in Public Relations at Dublin City University (DCU). Romina’s hometown is Munich, and she reckons that city and Dublin have a lot in common. “Munich has a community feel, so you never feel like you’re in a giant anonymous city. And that’s why I like Dublin as well. When you’re here, you don’t feel like you’re just disappearing in the crowds.”
But how did she come to choose Dublin in the first place? “I was in Dublin two years ago with a friend of mine just for a holiday trip, and we fell

Investment opportunities

Two very popular areas to invest in here are Dublin’s startups – and emerging companies – and its real estate.

Dublin’s startups and emerging companies

Whatever your interests, budget and appetite for risk, Dublin’s capital ecosystem can provide the investment opportunity you’re looking for. Tech Ireland’s website is a good place to start your search. If you are interested in meeting some of Dublin’s entrepreneurs, visit Startup Dublin, which arranges startup networking events – including the highly successful ‘First Friday Brekkies’. There’s a full calendar at Startup Digest and Google Meetups Dublin pages.

Enterprise Ireland

No one knows Ireland’s emerging companies investment landscape better than Enterprise Ireland. The state economic development agency invests in promising businesses and undertakes extensive technical, commercial, financial and market due-diligence in order to do so. It makes this research available to potential investors and develops portfolios of screened investment opportunities in the technology and services sectors.

If you’re interested in meeting other investors for syndicated investment opportunities, Enterprise Ireland can help to make that happen too. It runs programs that help investors to get in touch with startups, including the High Potential Start-up Team. It also partners with Venture Capital funds and Business Angel networks.

Irish Investment Network

The Irish Investment Network makes it easy to invest in promising startups. It can put you in touch with over 150,000 investment opportunities through a user-friendly interface.

National Digital Research Centre (NDRC)

The NRDC offers investors access to some of Ireland’s most exciting digital startups.

Real estate

“Within Dublin”, according to a Savills February 2019 report, “office-based employment is now rising by 6.3% per annum, and fifty-eight% of all the capital’s new jobs (15,000 in total) were in office-based sectors. Employment growth fed directly into a record year for Dublin office lettings…[during 2018] 345,783 sq m of office space were taken-up’.

The Savills report also points out that “new development [of office stock] is supplying a flow of investment opportunities. Eighteen percent of the office space bought last year was new-build stock, completed in either 2017 or 2018. All of this was located in the prime Dublin 1, 2 and 4 postcode areas”.
Dublin has ranked third out of 31 European cities for real estate investment and development, according to the 2019 PwC/ULI Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe report. Demand is being driven by strong growth from global companies in sectors such as Tech, Finance and Global Business Services but also by domestic demand. Brexit is also a factor as Ireland’s exporters and retailers prepare to reconfigure their supply chains.

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